Poker Iron working with leather.

[vector]

Hi all,

I have searched but maybe using the wrong words.

Anyone here play with poker or hot iron/ burning their leather.. Reason I ask was that I have some suede which was obviously not going to take embossing so I recalled my pyrography days and made up a wire "brand" stamp gave it some electrical juice (special wire btw it has inherent resistance its called nichrome) which caused it to heat up and then branded the suede.. looks neat.

I want to eventually put some horse tracks across a piece of suede and so was playing how to do that.

Trick now is to practice at bending the wire just so, so as to get a neat looking horse hoof. I figure the best bet is to make a pin board in the shape and then wrap the wire around it.

Anyway if someone has tried this let me in on some hints and tips

BTW that hoof is about 10mm across

Edited March 12, 2009 by vector

[Gilligan]

if you're looking for somethign full sized, i'd used a real shoe, for smaller prints ~3-4 inch you could use a miniature's shoe. I branded a wallet with a real brand one time, but that's about it.

The Kid

[CitizenKate]

Anyone here play with poker or hot iron/ burning their leather.. Reason I ask was that I have some suede which was obviously not going to take embossing so I recalled my pyrography days and made up a wire "brand" stamp gave it some electrical juice (special wire btw it has inherent resistance its called nichrome) which caused it to heat up and then branded the suede.. looks neat.

That's a really interesting way of making burned impressions on leather. I have not tried this exact method, but I have tried a couple of other things. Here is an experimental piece I did with a regular wood burning iron.

I've also experimented with heating up 3-D leather stamps with a heat gun and stamping it on dry leather to create a charred impression. I don't have any photos of that experiment, but that works pretty well, too.

Thanks for posting this interesting topic. I'm looking forward to hear what others have tried.

Kate

[Windy]

I've also experimented with heating up 3-D leather stamps with a heat gun and stamping it on dry leather to create a charred impression. I don't have any photos of that experiment, but that works pretty well, too.

Thanks for posting this interesting topic. I'm looking forward to hear what others have tried.

Kate

Kate,

I heated up a 3D stamp once with a torch and it started to melt. You think

maybe I left the flame to it, a wee bit longer than I should have.Lesson learned

about heating up cheap pot metal. I left my paint scraper that I use for cleaning

my grill too close to the coals once. Only once since it melted the entire end of

the scraper into globs of nice gray metal. I guess someone is telling me I should

take up blacksmithing.

WINDY..........not a blacksmith that I know of.

[vector]

That's a really interesting way of making burned impressions on leather. I have not tried this exact method, but I have tried a couple of other things. Here is an experimental piece I did with a regular wood burning iron.

Kate

Wow Kate thats a loverly piece.

I did think about getting my old woodworking poker iron out but I know from previous experience I had trouble on suede. The hairy fibers gobb up the iron..anyway I want the exact same shape so it looks right and I will have to do heaps of em. My daughter wants it like a boarder around her quiver. (She is into Unicorns). So a stamp like action was required. Its a ways off, this was just a trial to see if it was possible (she really really wanted the purple suede with a white standing on hind legs Unicorn (probably stitched on)), Im still thinking thru the whole quiver design in my head.

[Kowboyboots]

Be prepared for the smell, LOL. I use my laser engraver, sometimes I get it to smelling so bad in here I can barely stand it, an I have a real strong tolerance.

[CitizenKate]

I heated up a 3D stamp once with a torch and it started to melt. You think

maybe I left the flame to it, a wee bit longer than I should have.Lesson learned

about heating up cheap pot metal.

...

WINDY..........not a blacksmith that I know of.

Try a heat gun instead of a torch, and whatever you do, keep it moving.

Kate

[CitizenKate]

So a stamp like action was required. Its a ways off, this was just a trial to see if it was possible (she really really wanted the purple suede with a white standing on hind legs Unicorn (probably stitched on)), Im still thinking thru the whole quiver design in my head.

Your wire-brand still has some possibilities, I think... Hope you post some photos sometime to show how you did that.

Also, I almost forgot, there's a guy who makes mini-brands for leatherworkers. He has a web site called Grandpa's Pastime (Dale Grabowsky). He doesn't have pictures of his brands there any more, but you might want to contact him and see if what he makes will work for you.

Kate

[zaynexpetty]

A side question: I have not been able to efficiently heat up my 10 x 10 cm (approx. 4 x 4 inches) brass stamp with a "500 degree celsius" adjustable branding iron (approx 932 fahrenheit). The irons plastic handle melts before the time it heats up to the advertised temperature. I bought a blow torch from walmart, and I'm going to attempt to heat up the brand that way (I will be using it to brand both leather and wood). It was also suggested to me to attempt to heat up the brand in the oven. My question is: which would be more efficient? I will be attempting to brand multiple wood pieces/leather pieces at once. Also, If I did it in the oven, what temperature should I bring the oven up to, and for how long? Same with the blow torch, what temperature should I bring it up to? I have an infrared thermometer to check the temperature.

Thanks!